FOOTBALL 2014: Breaking down District 4-A Division I and District 5-A Division I

MRT

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Taking a look at District 4-A Division I

1. Borden County (6-6, 3-0 in district play): The Coyotes were ousted in the regional round in 2013, but return 10 starters. All Borden County does is reload and it looks like that will be the case again. They locked up the district title a year ago with a 93-68 over Grady and will be tough to unseat. “Borden County has a lot of something that Grady hasn’t had in a while,” Grady head coach Chris Kuykendall said. “And that’s football tradition. Grady’s got a lot of basketball tradition and when we step on the basketball court our kids are very, very confident. Unfortunately, the football confidence isn’t quite there yet.”

2. Grady (7-4, 2-1 in district play): The Wildcats do the Coyotes one better, returning all 12 starters from 2013. They’d like nothing more than to snag a district championship from Borden County. “I think it would go a long ways,” Kuykendall said. “I think that our kids would finally understand that basketball, and as of lately, track, is not the only thing that people have to watch out for.”

3. Klondike (4-6, 1-2 in district play): The lone district victory for the Cougars came against O’Donnell in 2013. That should happen again due in large part to quarterback Chris Arismendez. Coming off a campaign of nearly 1,000 total yards and 11 TDs, he could be on the precipice of a breakout season.

4. O’Donnell (3-7, 0-3 in district play): Times have been tough for the Screamin’ Eagles of late. They’ve only won four games in the last two seasons. Although they return all 12 starters, it may not be enough to topple into the top three in the district.

Taking a look at District 5-A Division I

1. Garden City (10-2, 3-0 in district play): The Bearkats will break in a lot of new faces in 2014. Regardless, they should add another district title to the trophy case. “Right now it’s ours and [Rankin] will have to come through us to get it,” head coach Matt Odom said. “We’re going to play pretty hard to keep that sucker right where it is.”

2. Rankin (9-2, 2-1 in district play): The Red Devils are thirsty for a district championship. And they remember the 68-20 thrashing they took to Garden City in 2013. “They’re graduating a pretty good bulk of their talent from last year but they’ve got a lot of kids,” head coach Kevin Ray said, “I’m sure they’ve got some sitting in the wings ready to take their place.” There may not be a better six-man game in the state when they face off in the finale Nov. 7.

3. Marfa (2-8, 1-2 in district play): The adjustment to six-man football continues for the Shorthorns. But head coach Jeff Jones returns four starters on each side of the ball. No one will be more crucial to their success than 2013 all-district selection Salvador Roman. Lucky for the Shorthorns, he’s only a sophomore.

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4. Fort Davis (0-10, 0-3 in district play): Coming off a winless season, the Indians will be hard-pressed to find victories again in 2014. They return eight starters, but barring something as mysterious as the Marfa Lights to happen to beat the Shorthorns.